The latest Texas Senate news from The Texas Tribune.
State Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, is dropping his bid for state Senate and won't seek reelection to the Texas House next year, he said Sunday. Gattis said State Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, will seek reelection after all. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/dangattis2.jpg)
State Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, announced today on a local radio show that she plans to run for reelection to the Texas House instead of making a go at the state Senate seat that Eliot Shapleigh is vacating. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Norma_Chavez.jpg)
Multi-part stories from Ramshaw and Grissom and Stiles on mental health services for detained immigrants and on payday lenders who provide exorbitantly priced credit to people with nowhere else to turn... Twitter, word clouds and the race for governor — a Stiles joint... Farouk Shami is in and Hu was there to watch... Philpott went to Bastrop for a gather of Republican governors... Rapoport finds a State Board of Education that's trying to control itself... and we have the skinny on legislative races that are likely to be competitive (only about 5 percent of the races on the ballot). It's the best of The Texas Tribune from November 14 to 20, 2009. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/112109_twibweek_jv_.jpg)
With 198 legislators on the ballot next year, there ought to be more fear in the air. But only a few are in obvious political trouble. Who's on the list, and what makes them vulnerable? Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/111809_targets002_jv.jpg)
Governor Rick Perry admits the state needs more money to pay for new roads. But he doesn't agree with the Texas Senate Transportation Committee Chairman on how to pay for them. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/27361caa0f5a08cc74cd5288ed0b990f/DO%20NOT%20USE%20Bailey%20Perry%2001%202009)
The longtime El Paso state senator, who said last month that he would not run for reelection, hasn’t revealed his statewide ambitions, but his public and private remarks leave little doubt that he's seriously considering a gubernatorial bid. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/111209_shapleigh001_go.jpg)
Should the Texas Forensic Science Commission meet in private? The new chairman, John Bradley, says there's a good argument for it. Full Story
Democratic El Paso County Attorney Jose Rodriguez talks about why he's running for the Texas Senate. He announced Sunday that he will campaign for the seat state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh is vacating. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/IMG_0017.JPG)
John Bradley, the Williamson County District Attorney and the newly-appointed chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, spent his morning answering a steady stream of questions from Texas lawmakers. At issue, if and when his panel will re-open the investigation into whether faulty science led to the arson conviction of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed by the state in 2004. Full Story
Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley expected some verbal jousting today at the Senate Criminal Justice Committee about his plans for the Texas Forensic Science Commission. He was right. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/bradley-whitmire111009.jpg)
Today in El Paso, County Attorney Jose Rodriguez announced he is running for the state Senate seat that Democrat Eliot Shapleigh is giving up. Full Story
El Paso County Attorney Jose Rodriguez is expected to announce tomorrow at an El Paso press conference that he will run for the Texas Senate seat that state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh is vacating. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/joserodriguez.jpg)
Albert Alvidrez, a former governor of the Tigua tribe in El Paso, is mulling a run for the Texas Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Sen. Eliot Shapleigh. But having Alvidrez in the Senate might not earn the tribe another vote for gambling rights. Full Story
As candidates stack up to challenge her, state Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, said she will make a decision about running for the Texas Senate by Thanksgiving. Full Story
El Paso state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh's surprise announcement that he won't seek another term in the Texas Senate in 2010 set off speculation about his plans for higher office — and a vigorous fight to replace him. Full Story
Wedding bells rang for state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, this weekend in the tiny old mining town of Shafter, near Big Bend National Park. Full Story